Come Little Children
by Rose the Wary Wolf
Summary: Pitch had a thankless job. He needed to teach children what was safe and what was not. But, with the Guardians continually kicking him down, he needed to take a more hands on approach. Thankfully, he had some help. 8 out of 30 Song Challenge One Shots. Come Little Children from Hocus Pocus, alternate version.


**Okay, this is based before Rise of the Guardians. I just wanted to do a story where Pitch is actually not that bad. **

**I don't own Rise of the Guardian, Guardians of Childhood, or Come Little Children. The OCs are mine though.**

**(To be completely honest, I did a little research. At first I didn't notice the different lyrics, but apparently its a change in the lyrics by a man named Brock Welsh. So, it's a little different from what I expected, but it still serves its purpose.)**

* * *

_Come little children_

Pitch sulked in the darkness of his lair. Ever since the Guardians arrived on the scene, he had been brutally beaten back again and again.

Pitch was starting to think they didn't understand the importance of his job.

_I'll take thee away_

Pitch taught children.

If they weren't afraid of strangers or heights, then the child could get hurt.

He protected the children in his own way, a way that traumatized and taught. It wasn't his fault that this was how he turned out.

_Into a land of enchantment_

Pitch started to hum as song he would sing to Emily Jane when she was young.

The sound got louder and louder, echoing through his lair.

Soon, he was singing the words, the Wind carrying it around the world.

_Come little children_

Children froze, staring vacantly into the distance.

Slowly, all who heard the deep voice feel asleep. The Sandman was left bewildered at the children sleeping everywhere he went.

_The time's come to play_

Pitch was dancing in his lair, twirling in time with the song.

The whisperings of children became a chorus around him as the song got louder and louder.

_Here in my garden of shadows_

Little phantoms of children slipped from the dark walls to stare at the Boogey Man. His black cloak swirled around him like wings.

One muttered about a monster. Another claimed he was a vampire.

A smarter little girl decided he was a siren, luring them in with his song.

_Follow, sweet children_

Pitch turned to the phantom children with his gold eyes and grinned maliciously.

They screamed as they scrambled backwards.

_I'll show thee the way_

"Come along," Pitch purred, inching his long finger at the little phantoms.

"Don't do it Harry!" one little boy cried out.

A few of the children giggled.

Pitch smiled but spun around.

_Through all the pain and the sorrows  
_

Shadowy hands appeared behind the laughing children and made attempts to grab them.

They screamed and scrambled around Pitch.

His grating laughter caused more than one to flinch.

_Weep not poor children_

"This way," he soothed. "Just follow me and you'll be home."

A few of the children smiled up at Pitch.

Yes, these were the children that had been with him before.

_For life is this way_

They knew what his purpose was.

Mary had once been taken away by a strange man. It took her parents a month to find her. She was one of the lucky ones. She learned from the nightmares she received that she should never trust strangers.

_Murdering beauty and passions  
_

Kevin had once been a fan of snakes. He never determined which were venomous and which ones weren't. He spent two weeks in the hospital with the memory of the snake turning against him running on rewind.

Sam had once climbed a tree, only to fall breaking four different bones.

They were all afraid of something, learning from his lessons that even more things in this world could hurt them.

_Hush now, dear children_

These little phantoms were his charges until they grew up. Pitch had to teach them what would hurt them and what wouldn't.

Pitch was a parent after all, he knew the whole shebang.

_It must be this way_

One child reached out, curious. She slipped into the darkness. The group stopped, some crying in distress.

She appeared again, shaking in fear with tears running down her face.

"Don't run off on your own," Pitch ordered. She nodded, quivering.

_To weary of life and deceptions_

The children huddled closer. Pitch gently placed his hands on their hands.

He had to teach them, it was the only way they were survive in this cruel world.

_Rest now, my children_

The Guardians were too stuck on protecting the children that they forgot about preventing problems.

If they were taught not to run off, if they were trained to fear strangers, so many cruelties would never touch him.

It was a job that was left to Pitch, a thankless job.

_For soon we'll away_

Not even the so-called Guardians of Childhood understood Pitch's purpose.

They only saw him as an evil force.

Sure, he had done wrongs, but so had they.

North had been a heartless thief once upon a time. No one was perfect.

_Into the calm and the quiet_

No, Pitch was the evil one.

He would always be the evil one.

_Come little children_

"How much further, Mr. Pitch?" Sam, the child with a fear of falling, asked.

"Soon," he murmured. He wanted to teach them at least one more thing before they left.

_I'll take thee away_

They arrived at a dark hole in the floor.

The more curious children edged closer to gaze into the darkness in horror.

Pitch eyed them.

_Into a land of enchantment_

He lifted his leg slowly. Mary smothered a smile with her two hands at his side.

He kicked James, a boy who was afraid of spiders, down the hole.

_Come little children_

He listened as James screamed in terror as he fell. His voice was quickly cut off and the other boys and girls stared at him in horror.

They were crying, wondering why.

Pitch had promised to take them home, so why?

_The time's come to play_

Mary gleefully helped Pitch push the rest of the child down the hole. Some clung to her, begging her to stop. Some asked her why she was doing this.

She was smiling as they fell, watching with large curious eyes as they disappeared into the darkness.

"Don't trust strangers," Pitch reminded Mary as she threw herself into the hole.

Mary woke up in her room.

She knew Pitch all too well, a repeat visitor to his lair. And she was always happy to help him protect the more naïve children. She wished that she had learned her lesson from Pitch, rather than from humanity.

_Here in my garden of shadows_

And Pitch smiled when Mary hugged him good bye before throwing herself back into wakefulness.

Maybe, just maybe, it wasn't as thankless a job as he had originally thought.

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**Pitch, why are you so danceable? I love the idea of Pitch dancing for some reason. But, yeah, this happened.**

**(I took a lot of author's privileges with this…)**

**I hope everyone enjoys this one shot!**


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